News from Thailand – March 6, 2013
The Department of Fisheries is not happy with the proposal by the US and South American countries to list three shark species and four species of manta rays (a type of ray) on CITES Appendix II. Thai fishermen could be in trouble if they accidentally catch those fish. In addition, the import of the manta rays from South America and export to Europe, Japan and the US is seriously hampered.
The proposal will be discussed on Friday at the CITES conference currently being held in Bangkok. Appendix II contains names of animals that are at risk of extinction unless trade is regulated. Trade in those animals can be authorized by means of an export permit or re-export permit.
Wimol Jantrarotai, head of the Fisheries Department, said the proposed listing could harm not only Thai fishermen but also the ornamental fish industry and fish breeding programs. Thailand is doing all it can to protect marine wildlife by banning fishing within 4,5 kilometers of the coast, a three-month fishing ban during the spawning season and sinking artificial reefs. Moreover, there is hardly any shark fishing in Thailand.
Placing the manta rays on the appendix is more problematic because that fish is popular in the ornamental fish trade, which has an annual turnover of 800 million baht. Thailand imports the freshwater manta from South America for breeding purposes and then exports the fish. Three of the four proposed strains are sought after by Thai growers.
– Surat Thani Provincial Police Commander Kiattipong Khawsamang received the 2013 Clark R Bavin Wildlife Law Enforcement Award yesterday (see photo). The award was presented by John E Scanlon (right), Secretary General of CITES. Kiattipong received the award for his fight against the illegal wildlife trade.
[Cites means Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.]
– Three police officers are suspected of being involved in the smuggling of rhinoceros horns through Suvarnabhumi. In early January, a Vietnamese smuggler was caught after leaving $500.000 worth of horns in his luggage at the airport. Police have footage of the three officers on previous occasions removing the horns from a luggage cart that smugglers had left in a place where no one could see it.
Illegal hunting of rhinoceroses has increased significantly in recent years due to the rising demand for horns in Asia, particularly in Vietnam. The (ground) horn is said to have a medicinal effect. The sad fate of the animals is on the agenda of the CITES conference.
– Kantipak Pachimsawat (25) suffers from bipolar disorder and therefore does not have to go to prison. Yesterday, the Supreme Court changed a prison sentence of 10 years and a month to a two-year suspended sentence after extensive consultations with Kantipak's doctor and other medical experts.
Kantipak, son of former Miss Thailand and a businessman, was sentenced to 2009 years in prison by Pra Khanong Provincial Court in 10 for driving his Mercedes sedan into a group of people waiting at a bus stop in Watthana (Bangkok) in July 2007. A woman was killed and two people were seriously injured. Kantipak would have done this because he had an argument with a bus driver.
However, according to the Supreme Court, Mu Ham, as his nickname is, is unable to control himself when he is angry. His actions during the fatal incident were "involuntary." The victims are satisfied with the compensation they have received from Kantipak, so that civil proceedings can be dispensed with.
– 'My only problem is public relations,' says re-elected governor of Bangkok Sukhumbhand Paribatra in response to criticism that he has done little in the past four years. And he's going to do something about it. As governor he doesn't have his own PR budget and strangely enough the deputy governors do, so Sukhumbhand is going to pool the budgets.
Sukhumbhand says no other governor has had as many problems as he has over the past four years. He had to deal with political disputes and floods. People tend to judge his performance based on physical outcomes, such as construction projects, but they ignore intellectual achievements. According to him, the educational quality of the municipal schools and the well-being of students are now better than in the schools managed by the Ministry of Education.
Sukhumbhand realizes that he will be under a lot of pressure for the next four years, as the residents of Bangkok have much higher expectations. "I know that a lot is expected of me and I will do my best to live up to those expectations." His short-term goals include fare reduction on the On Nut-Bearing and Wong Wian Yai-Pho Nimitr subway routes, the installation of 27.000 surveillance cameras and 20.000 WiFi hot spots, and the opening of two of the three planned public parks.
– Deves Insurance Plc also cannot get away with the argument that the arson was a terrorist act (as the government had said) and was therefore not covered by the insurance. The Bangkok Civil Court has ordered the insurer to pay 19 billion baht in damages to the Zen department store, which was set on fire by red shirts on May 2010, 1,977. On March 1, the court ordered Deves to pay CentralWorld, which is next to Zen, 3,7 billion baht.
Muang Thai Insurance was previously ordered to pay 1,7 million baht plus interest to Chulalongkorn University for arson attacks at two retail properties and the Siam Theater in May 2010. The university owns the land in that area and is insured against fire damage.
The civil law qualification of the arson attacks has no binding force on the cases against 24 red shirt leaders who are being prosecuted for terrorism. So says the chief justice of the Criminal Court. The defendants may use the civil judgment in their defense, but they will be tried on the basis of the evidence presented.
– In seven districts of the southern province of Yala, car tires have been set on fire in 41 places. According to one source, that was the work of the Permudan Baru youth movement. The members of that group are said to have been recruited and trained by the Runda Kumpulan Kecil, the military branch of the BRN with which Thailand has signed an agreement in principle to start peace talks.
Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung, who is in charge of security operations in the South, said the arson attacks took place outside urban areas with the aim of luring troops out of the city. But that didn't work out.
An employee of the Yala Highways District Office was arrested yesterday in Yala. He is suspected of involvement in various bomb attacks in the province.
– The family of the murdered environmental activist Prajob Naowa-opas has asked for police protection. The victim's older brother and other family members say they are intimidated. Prajob, village chief of tambon Nong Haen, campaigned against the dumping of chemical waste in Chachoengsao. He was shot dead in front of a garage on February 25 while waiting for his car to be repaired.
– In Cambodia, eight people died of bird flu. For the Ministry of Health, this is reason to increase inspections in Thailand. The authorities in the border region in particular should be alert to patients with symptoms that may indicate bird flu.
– The investigation into the involvement of former Prime Minister Abhisit and Deputy Prime Minister Suthep in the demolished construction of 396 police stations has been transferred to the National Anti-Corruption Commission. The Department of Special Investigation investigating the case has no jurisdiction because both hold political office.
The two would have violated the Penal Code by authorizing the work to be tendered centrally instead of regionally, as had previously been decided. The DSI is not taking any action against the then Chief of Police, who had suggested the change. He acted on orders from the political sector.
- Because he kratom trees and leaves sold, a 20-year-old man from Hat Yai (Yala) was arrested yesterday. Krathom is considered a drug in the same category as cannabis. The man was arrested during a raid on his home. There the police found 510 leaves and 38 trees.
– Suan Dusit Poll apologizes for the poll conducted between March 1 and March 3, which gave Pongsapata Pongcharoen a 10 percent lead over Sukhumbhand Paribatra. Bad luck for Suan Dusit because Paribatra was elected governor on Sunday. "We accept the mistake and will investigate the cause to improve the quality of our polls," said Suan Dusit Poll director.
Economic news
– The agricultural sector falls short in terms of production process, irrigation capacity and management of supply and demand. These problems have accumulated in recent years. It is a serious problem that the 30 to 40 million Thais who work in agriculture produce only the equivalent of 10 percent of the gross domestic product. The country relies too much on cheap labor for its growth and much of the export earnings are in the hands of a small elite.
Former Finance Minister Somkid Jatusripitak made no bones about his heart yesterday during a lecture on the occasion of Reporters' Day and the 58th anniversary of the establishment of the Thai Journalists Association. The economy may look rosy at first glance, but that may well be an illusion. The population, he warned, should not be fooled by the country's sunny economic growth.
That growth may not be sustainable because unaccountable policies have a detrimental effect on the country's competitiveness. Gross domestic product is currently 10 trillion baht and economic growth is estimated at 5 percent. But beneath that sunny facade lies a messy reality, says Somkid.
According to Somkid, Thailand needs to reform its finances. Equal economic opportunities are not promoted by national spending and wealth is concentrated in Bangkok, hampering economic growth across the board.
In addition to the agricultural sector, the industrial sector is also lagging behind. Workers' skills have not increased and production technology is somewhat limited, which will make exports increasingly less competitive.
Finally, Somkid pointed out that public spending is supported by loans, which is detrimental to the country's economic strength.
– As Veera Prateepchaikul already in his weekly section Bangkok Post wrote, because of the drought, the second harvest will yield significantly less rice, which is offered for the mortgage system. Veera quoted 7 million tons instead of the 11 million tons taken into account; Vatchari Vimooktayon, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce, estimates 6 million tons.
The budget allocated to the system can therefore be reduced from 405 billion baht to 300 billion baht: 200 billion baht for the main crop and 100 billion for the second crop. Initially, 34 million tons of rice were expected for both harvests.
In the previous harvest season (2011-2012), 21,6 million tons of rice were bought: 6,9 million tons in the first harvest and 14,7 million tons in the second harvest. This cost the government 336 billion baht.
The price that the farmers receive, 15.000 baht for a ton of white rice and 20.000 baht for a ton of Hom Mali (jasmine rice), will not change. For a while it seemed that those prices would be reduced, but that idea was quickly abandoned after threatening language from farmers' leaders.
– The Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand (SME Bank), which is in financial difficulties, receives a financial injection of 555 million baht from the Ministry of Finance. But first a recovery plan must be put on the table before the capital is expanded in the first quarter of this year. That plan should be on the table this week.
The SME Bank has net assets of 97 billion baht, liabilities of 69 billion baht and non-performing loans of 39 billion baht or 40 percent of total assets, as calculated by the Bank of Thailand. The capital adequacy ratio is 1 percent, well below the 8,5 percent demanded by the central bank.
– Coca-Cola (Thailand) has been able to increase its market share from 42 to 50 percent because of the battle between Sermsuk Plc, the former bottler of Pepsi, and Pepsi-Cola Trading, which now bottles Pepsi itself. In 2011, Pepsi was still the best-selling brand with a market share of 48 percent, but last year it dropped to second place with 34 percent and is now threatening to disappear to third place.
With the introduction of its own cola under the name Est, Sermsuk has displaced Pepsi from second place. Est, launched four months ago, accounted for 19 percent and Pepsi for 15 percent last month. Big Cola, originally a Peruvian brand, had a market share of 2011 percent in 16. For 2012 and February this year, the article does not give a percentage.
Of the 200 countries where Coca Cola is sold, Thailand ranks 19th. The company has built a new factory in Surat Thani where PET bottles are made. It will come on stream next month, increasing PET bottle production by 200 percent to 15 million bottles a year. New machinery will be installed at the Rangsit and Pathum Thani factories, increasing production capacity by 35 percent.
www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post
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Known as Khun Peter (62), lives alternately in Apeldoorn and Pattaya. In a relationship with Kanchana for 14 years. Not yet retired, have my own company, something with insurance. Crazy about animals, especially dogs and music.
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Addition to News from Thailand: I must have missed a message, because in the editorial of Bangkok Post I read about a boy who was severely abused by twelve students of the Bangkok Institute of Technology. They harassed him because they thought they were dealing with a student from a rival vocational school.
The 16-year-old victim was beaten and knifed. They severed the tendons in his left shoulder, rendering him unable to use his left arm, and cut off six fingers.
The police arrested three students shortly after the assault. The nine others are shielded. Surgeons have tried to stitch up four of the fingers.
The Rights and Liberties Protection Department has compensated the boy with 103.000 baht. The newspaper calculates that this amounts to 1.873 baht per year with a life expectancy of 71 years. 'Pathetic', writes the newspaper.
“However, according to the Supreme Court, Mu Ham, as his nickname is, is unable to control himself when he is angry. His actions during the fatal incident were "involuntary." Excuse me, since when is that a valid reason not to go to prison in Thailand? This again tends towards class justice, a certain person who shoots a cop in the head in a disco gets away with it, the average Thai who kills someone in a fit of rage doesn't... But let's assume for a moment that this young man actually has such a has a serious disorder that he cannot control himself, then surely he will be banned from driving and weapons for life so that he does not accidentally drive someone to death in a fit of anger? (Rhetorical question)
Dick: The paper uses the term "involuntary." Perhaps a better translation is: not accountable. I forgot to mention that he must report to the Probation Service and undergo psychiatric treatment.
Thanks Dick, that's an important nuance. After I had sent my message I thought I would have wanted to add if he would at least receive Psychological counseling because if he does indeed have a disorder then he needs to be helped for this. Personally, I would also take away his driving license etc. until he is declared cured (if such a thing is possible) so that he will not make another mistake like this.